Four police officers and a civilian accused of killing IJM lawyer Willie Kimani and two others now have the uphill task of proving their innocence.
This is after Justice Jessie Lessit placed all the five accused on their defence after ruling that the prosecution had proved a prima facie case against them.
AP officers Fredrick Leliman, Stephen Cheburet, Sylvia Wanjiku and Leonard Mwangi were charged alongside police informant Peter Ngugi.
Ngugi had confessed how the abduction and brutal murders were carried out and this is one of the major pieces of evidence the prosecution relied on.
Justice Lessit ruled that after going through all the evidence provided by the prosecution, she found that each of the accused had a case to answer.
“I have considered the entire evidence and having done so I have come to the conclusion that the prosecution has established a prima facie case,” Judge Lessit said.
The trial, which began in July 2016, is now on the final leg, with the accused expected to call their own witnesses to defend them.
Defence lawyer Cliff Ombeta, representing the first accused, said he will call four witnesses.
Ombeta said Leliman will call his wife and two other AP officers to defend him. The fourth witness is a retired cop.
Ombeta further said Cheburet, who is the second accused, will not call any witness but will rely on submissions.
Sylvia Wanjiku, the third accused, will call four witnesses, while Leonard Mwangi will call seven witnesses.
Ngugi, who recorded the confession that incriminated his co-accused, will have one witness.
Leliman will call commandant Lawrence Wambui based at police headquarters.
Ombeta also asked the court to issue summonses to the Makindu and Mlolongo police station bosses to provide OB for June 24, 2016, that they will use in their defence.
Speaking to the press after the ruling, the victims’ families were happy that the five had been put on their defence.
Stella Grace Muiruri, the sister of Willie’s driver Joseph Muiruri, said they hope the case ends this year.
“When you kill a person, you leave so many wounds in a family of the deceased; people develop illness as they cannot handle the death of their loved one,” she said.
She said healing is not easy.
“Every time the case is mentioned and heard, it rouses deep wounds to the family,” she said.
"Maybe he (Muiruri) had no idea what was going on. All of them did not deserve to die.”
Willie’s brother Simon Njenga Kinuthia said if the five will be found guilty it will be a lesson to others with such thoughts.
“Willie was a very loving, very humble guy and joyful, as a family, the community where he worked. We lost a very good person. It is very sad,” Kinuthia said.
The International Justice Mission where Willie worked before his demise said the prosecution put a strong case on how the five accused abducted the three as they left Mavoko law courts where they attended a case hearing.
The defence hearing will commence on Monday next week. A total of 16 defence witnesses are expected to take the stand to testify.
